The devastating consequences of a seemingly groundbreaking technological advancement in media has finally come to light. Unfortunately, it took the physical form of a disorder with the highest mortality rate among mental illnesses. The rates of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have skyrocketed since our generation’s introductions to social media platforms complete with influencers and a realm of evidently endless diet culture. While eating disorders have been around for the past several centuries, the numbers have begun to rise dramatically following the infiltration of limitless social media networks such as facebook, instagram, twitter, tumblr, tiktok, and countless other apps currently set to hit our app stores. Through extensive research accomplished via epidemiological studies, case studies, and multiple cross-sectional studies, the question raised regarding whether eating disorders have surged due to the role of social media is indisputably answered. The question is simply not if social media has played a role in its development, but just how extensively are the two intertwined?
The epidemiological studies analyzed by the National Library of Medicine have shed light upon resounding statistics that provide a basis for eating disorder generality. These studies first and foremost suggest that eating disorders among adolescent girls has increased significantly over the past 50 years. Within this foundational data lies a strong demographic in which this statistic is most prominent. The prevalence rate of anorexia nervosa among girls aged 15-19 years old is 0.48 percent while the prevalence rate of bulimia nervosa among girls aged 15-19 years old ranges between 1 and 5 percent. These numbers may appear small but don’t let them fool you, these two eating disorders alone account for a whopping 13 million diagnoses. The researchers within this epidemiological study have hypothesized that the media plays an intricate role in not only creating but intensifying the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction and weight concerns. This hypothesis is backed up by several startling data markers such as the average adolescent consumption of multimedia. According to the study, an adolescent consumes up to 7 hours of various media combined throughout the day. While this extensive viewing is at play, a range of psychological symptomatology including body dissatisfaction and eating disorders is enacted. The link between the thin female body ideal and the muscular male body ideal portrayed in the media is the root of such symptomatology. Essentially, the media combined with these unattainable ideals has been connected directly to the rise in disordered eating.
Over time, the cultural ideal for women’s body size and shape has become considerably thinner while the cultural ideal for men’s body size and shape has become more muscular. These unrealistic messages may have begun long ago but indeed took a forefront in popular magazines between the years of 1970 and 1990. The intense emphasis on fitness as well as a trend towards more androgynous looking bodies increased dramatically during this time, alongside a marketing strategy to tailor such content to adolescent girls. This premeditated exposure to body standards has shown the discernible connection between adolescent girls generally wanting to weigh less and adolescent boys generally wanting to maintain a bigger and stronger body type. A meta analysis containing 25 studies set out to confirm this hypnosis through comparing the mindset of female subjects in regards to body image. The subjects were shown thin models versus average to plus size models and subsequently asked to reveal which images produced more negative feelings about their own appearances. These subjects all disclosed that their body images were significantly more negative after exposure to the thin or underweight models. This effect was found to be particularly strong in women younger than 19 years of age.
In a study done by Slater Tiggeman entitled, “I would rather be a size 10 than get straight A’s”, Slater studied the body concerns of 16 year olds all while attempting to understand the underlying motivations for their wish to be thin. The responses ranged ever so slightly and Slater found that the factor exerting the strongest pressure to be thin was in fact the media. The girls in this study additionally concluded that they weren’t necessarily dissatisfied with their bodies but rather had developed an understanding of the effect that social media was having on their implicit desire to be thinner. It’s important to mention that most adolescents have a certain awareness of the effects social media may be having on their psyche, sadly that doesn’t prevent the unwanted thoughts or desires that follow our constant exposure to it. In several cross-sectional studies with adjacent desires to Slaters, the studies revealed that the importance of thinness was indicative of young girls attempting to portray women on television, in movies, or those featured in magazines. Within this main thesis lies several factors specific to the same demographic we’ve been witnessing throughout this analysis. In a group of girls aged 9-14, this predictor led them to begin purging at least monthly. In a group of girls and boys aged 9-14, this same predictor found that due to their effort to resemble figures in the media, they were more likely to develop weight concerns and constant dieting. Social media and its counterparts have hooked not only a young demographic but an impressionable one. It’s becoming clear that the messages fed to our youth through social media are being consumed whether they’re hungry for it or not.
It’s true, American culture enacts vastly different results to these studies in both numbers and percentages compared to the rest of the world. If you grew up female in a western culture, you are twice as likely to develop an eating disorder compared to non-western cultures. While the chances are far slimmer in those non-western cultures, they aren’t nothing, especially not when social media is involved. One study in particular set out to measure indicators of disordered eating in a “media naive population” or a population with limited to no media connection. The study consisted of Fijian school girls and their introduction to western television, an inauguration that quickly revealed the expected results. The key traits of disordered eating were found to be significantly more prevalent following prolonged television exposure and subsequently, these subjects reported an interest in weight loss as a means of modeling themselves after television characters. This study is important for a multitude of reasons, the predominant one being that it provided participants with no prior knowledge of the effects social media may have on one’s mind, thus allowing for a pure, untainted result.
A peer-reviewed article explicitly integral to the conversation at hand is that of, “Adolescent Peer Influence on Eating Behaviors via Social Media: Scoping Review”, published by the Journal of Medicine Internet Research. The authors of this article are students at New York University and include the following academic scholars: Alicia Chung, Dorice Viera, Tiffany Donley, Nicholas Tan, Girardin Jean-Louis, Kathleen Kiely Gouley, and Azizi Seixas. The field of study analyzed within this collaborative article is essentially mental health. However, the big picture overview falls explicitly under the influence of social media among adolescent peer groups and the powerful agent such media possesses on disordered eating. The methodology that was enacted to prove the hypothesis at hand was a combination of extensive medical and comparative research. The medical research that provided a scoping review of relative literature includes websites such as Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. The review of these databases was conducted in three steps, the first step being identification of the research question and clarification of criteria using the population, intervention, comparison, and outcome. The second step being the selection of articles from the literature using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The last step of this process being charting and summarizing information from selected articles. The subject headings as well as the keywords used to assess these specific articles were based on adolescent age groups, social media platforms, and eating behaviors. After our scholars reviewed 1,387 peer reviewed articles, 37 articles were chosen for eligibility. The following characteristics were then extracted from the articles: participant age, gender, study location, social media channels utilized, user volume, and content themes. The results or key findings of this study were further scrutinized as the 37 eligible articles were downsized into only six articles that met the final inclusion criteria. The final sample of the participants consisted of 1,225 adolescents. These adolescents ranged from age 10 to 19 years old and originated from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Brazil, and Australia. The participants and their adjoining countries were included in both the controlled and qualitative studies. Of the social media platforms analyzed among the participants, Instagram and Facebook were the most popular platforms in terms of influencing both the healthful and unhealthful eating behaviors of adolescents. Online forums within these platforms also served as accessible channels for discussion around eating disorder continuation as well as relapse prevention among youth. The Influence social media played on this study converged around four central themes: visual appeal, content dissemination, socialized digital connections, and adolescent marketer influences. The conclusion that these scholars drew from the study confirmed that adolescent peer influence in social media environments spans the spectrum of healthy eating to eating disorders. Both positive and negative outcomes were analyzed in terms of the effect social media may have on one’s mental health. To conclude, the authors recommend that strategic network-driven approaches should be considered for engaging adolescents in the promotion of positive dietary behavior.
The results of this substantial analysis is nothing short of clear, concise, and enlightening. Social media is changing the way adolescents view themselves, view their bodies, and view the world. As a result, life-threatening eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are infiltrating the minds of our youth at a rapid pace. It’s terrifying to see a superficial and fake institution of media create such a dangerous and real disease. However, the same social media responsible for creating these negative mindsets continues to make strides towards a more positive future, a future where eating disorders are on the decline.
Works Cited
Morris, Anne M, and Debra K Katzman. “The Impact of the Media on Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents.” Paediatrics & Child Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2003, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792687/.
Chung1, Alicia, et al. “Adolescent Peer Influence on Eating Behaviors via Social Media: Scoping Review.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Publications Inc., Toronto, Canada, www.jmir.org/2021/6/e19697. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024.
Dane, Alexandra, and Komal Bhatia. “The Social Media Diet: A Scoping Review to Investigate the Association between Social Media, Body Image and Eating Disorders amongst Young People.” PLOS Global Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 22 Mar. 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10032524/.
“Social Media Effects on Eating Disorders.” Social Media Victims Law Center, 26 Feb. 2024, socialmediavictims.org/mental-health/eating-disorders/.
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